Help

No account yet?
Registering is free, easy, and private.
Discuss in the forum, contribute to the Encyclopedia, build your own MyAnime lists, and more.

Sci Fi Channel and Manga Entertainment Add New Anime Programming as ‘Ani-Monday’ Block Is Renewed for a Second Season

Jul 14th 2008

Popular Titles, Including ‘Gurren Lagann’ and 'Gundam 00,' Join the Line-up, Kicking Off in Late July

NEW YORK, NY – July 8, 2008 – SCI FI Channel will treat anime fans to new series and movies in its weekly Ani-Monday programming block, Monday nights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. beginning in July. Ani-Monday will feature a collection of movies, series and shorts from Starz Media's anime distribution arm, Manga Entertainment.

SCI FI's Ani-Monday will feature the exclusive U.S. premieres of a number of highly anticipated series and movies including series “Gurren Lagann” and “Gundam 00” (licensed by Bandai Entertainment Inc.); as well as the movie Strait Jacket. The block will also include the TV premiers of classic anime series “Now And Then, Here and There” and “Descendents of Darkness.” Other fan favorites set to air in the block include: Black Jack, Blood: The Last Vampire, Dead Leaves, Ghost in the Shell, Go Shogun, Kai Doh Maru, “Macross Plus”, MD Geist, Negadon: The Monsters From Mars, Ninja Scroll and Street Fighter Alpha Generations.

“Our viewers have been enthusiastic about the Ani-Monday block from Manga Entertainment since the programming first aired just over a year ago,” said Thomas Vitale, SCI FI Channel's Senior Vice President, Programming and Original Movies. “We believe viewers will be even more excited about this incredible new line-up of top anime Manga is delivering.”

“SCI FI Channel has been a terrific partner, introducing our quality anime to the channel's large, diverse community,” added Marc DeBevoise, Starz Media senior vice president, digital media and business development. “The audience for anime is growing, and so we're very happy to have this ideal platform to bring the best Japanese animation to viewers in this country.”

Much of the programming for the Ani-Monday block is coming via Manga's new partnerships and distribution agreements with Bandai Entertainment, Inc. and Central Park Media Corporation.

Many of the programs in the block will be made available for download on digital platforms after their airings on SCI FI, with clips and additional information available at www.manga.com .

SCHEDULE

July
Ghost in the Shell: The Movie
Sword for Truth
Vampire Wars
Black Jack: The Movie
“Gurren Lagann”
“Now and Then, Here and There”

About Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment Ltd. is an entertainment company specializing in the production, marketing and distribution of Japanese animation for theatrical, television, Internet, DVD and home video release worldwide. The Manga film library is marketed and distributed in the U.S. through Anchor Bay Entertainment. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in London. Manga is a division of Starz Media, a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman and Anchor Bay Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming – including theatrical films – and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, through home video retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the U.S. and internationally. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com ) is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.

About SCI FI CHANNEL
SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic website (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 93 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.

About Bandai Entertainment Inc.
Bandai Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) Inc. and the premier distributor of Japanese animation on DVD and programming for television broadcast in North America. Titles include Code Geass Lelouch of Rebellion, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gundam Seed Destiny, My Hime, and many more. www.bandai-ent.com.

About Central Park Media
Central Park Media is an 18-year-old Manhattan-based independent video and book publisher focused on Japanese and Korean animation and graphic novels. Central Park Media has been a leading supplier of anime in the United States since 1990, and a major publisher of manga since 1994. The company currently manufactures and distributes animated video programming under several label names, including *US Manga Corps*, *Be Beautiful*, *Software Sculptors* and *Central Park Media*, as well as live-action Asian feature films under its *Asia Pulp Cinema* label. www.centeralparkmedia.com

Zac and Jacob spend the entire first video episode of ANNCast talking spoiler-free about Makoto Shinkai's amazing movie, your name., plus Yuri!!! on Ice and much more!― ANNCast Episode 278: What's My Name Zac and Jacob spend the entire first video episode of ANNCast talking spoiler-free about Makoto Shinkai's amazing movie, Your Name, plus Yuri on Ice and much more! You can listen to the show on ou...

Pokemon Sun and Moon introduced a brand new visual style to the franchise that's left fans divided! Callum May explains how and why Pokemon's style has shifted so much over the years.― The anime industry is constantly changing. In the past 20 years, we've seen new studios rise and old guards fall, we've lost extraordinary veteran talents and welcomed new hopeful faces, we've seen entirely new ways o...

One of the most beloved seasons in this classic anime is finally available to own with a brand-new dub! Rebecca Silverman explores how well Sailor Moon S holds up after all these years.― Sailor Moon S is hailed as one of the best seasons of the five-season series, and even just from the first few episodes, you can see why. Unlike its predecessors, Sailor Moon S gets right down to business introducin...

It's Dark Souls by way of creative powderkeg Suda 51, and Dustin has strapped in for a weird, bloody ride. PLUS: Death Stranding, Final Fantasy XV, Super Mario Run and much more!― It's the end of the year, and that means it's time for game releases to start winding down—but don't worry, January is already packed. There's only one release of any note this week, but don't think the lack of new games m...

This unusual historical fantasy anime might have gotten lost in the shuffle of bigger titles over time, but it's still one of a kind today. Theron Martin explores just what makes this series special.― Maria the Virgin Witch is a remarkable series in many respects. It's nearly as raunchy as a high-end fanservice anime – even being assigned a TV-MA rating despite not having any detailed nudity – and y...

Like this season's Izetta: The Last Witch, historical fiction anime plays fast and loose with real events to spin some fantastic yarns that nevertheless teach us plenty about real history!― Though it has never been a dominant anime genre, historical fiction has nevertheless persisted in anime since its earliest days. These days hardly a season goes by without some new interpretation(s) of Sengoku-er...

The extras are insightful in this new release of Summer Wars, even if the story may not hold up the way it once did. Rebecca Silverman offers her take on Mamoru Hosoda's breakout film.― Time is the greatest test of any work. Poems written by Heian era women over a thousand years ago are still intimately relatable to modern readers, novels by men in the 19th century still have a lot to say about soci...

Monster Musume is a very, very naughty manga. When you've got a harem interspecies comedy where the girls are half-snake, half-horse or half-slime mould, the sexy permutations are pretty much infinite. Below, we've nominated our seven favourite guilty pleasures from Monster Musume's early chapters. Warning: the following scenes contain acts which some people may find unnatural... 1 – Monster Musu...

Keijo!!!!!!!! shoots up the charts and Sound! Euphonium 2 retakes the top spot in our weekly user rankings! See how your favorite shows performed!― Our team of reviewers are following 27 anime series of the Fall 2016 season and readers are rating each episode as the reviews go up. So let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season. Keep in mind that these rankings ...

After a decade in development, the latest entry in the Final Fantasy franchise is finally here! Dustin Bailey has the lowdown on this bishounen-packed road trip.― Every time you boot up Final Fantasy XV, it presents you with a message, calling itself a “Final Fantasy for fans and first timers.” The series' disconnected chronology has always favored reinvention, but this one takes that that further t...

The spicy boy-meet-girl-monsters manga comedy Monster Musume has been a hit since it slithered sexily from the mind of artist OKAYADO. You could call it a harem manga, but you've never seen a harem like this one. It starts with a bird-girl, a snake-girl and a horse-girl, and then it gets really strange. All these ladies are flying, clopping and otherwise perambulating to Japan as part of a govern...